A Gospel with No Beginning and No End - Part III

"Our God comes and will not be silent; a fire devours before him, and around him a tempest rages. He summons the Heavens above, and the Earth, that he may judge his people."

� Psalms 50:3,4

United in an Unthinkable Union

The Bible indicates the first four trumpet-judgments of Revelation 8 will kill more than 1.5 billion people over a period of thirty to sixty days. Because the religious and political leaders of the world do not understand apocalyptic prophecy, they will fearfully anticipate that more judgments will fall if something is not done quickly to appease God�s wrath. In panic and "in fear of the living God," the world�s religious and political leaders will be invited to a summit to discuss God�s horrific actions. I believe that since the Roman Catholic Church already has relationships with most countries, it will host the summit. The outcome of this meeting will forever change the governance of the world. The book of Revelation predicts the leaders of the world will unite in an otherwise unthinkable union. (Revelation 13:3,4)

When the first four trumpet-judgments destroy thousands of cities and millions of square miles, everyone present at this solemn meeting will be afraid of God. Like Nebuchadnezzar after he recovered from seven years living as an animal, the leaders of the world will humbly acknowledge the sovereign authority of the Most High God. They will notice that God�s anger was directed at geographic locations known for degenerate behavior. This will prove in their minds that God observes the ways of man. Everyone will clearly understand God�s wrath against sexual immorality, violence and other forms of degenerate behavior. (2 Chronicles 16:9; Colossians 3:5,6) After a few days at the summit, the leaders of the world will unite on three civilization changing matters. First, the leaders of the world will agree that all mankind, as one man, must appease God through repentance and worship; otherwise, the whole world will be destroyed by God�s anger. Second, to guide nations in how to repent and worship God, religious leaders will unite and form a "crisis authority." Since the world is currently divided into large groups of religiously diverse people, the "crisis authority" will consist of representatives from the seven religious systems of the world. Third, political leaders will agree to follow the counsel of the "crisis authority" in matters of repentance and worship. In an effort to appease the Almighty, these world leaders will believe that if they enforce the mandates of the crisis authority in their respective nations, God�s anger will cease.

Of course, these three decisions are unthinkable within today�s world context, but the destruction caused by the first four trumpet-judgments will terminate today�s context. Consider the fundamentals underlying these three civilization changing decisions and notice how simple they really are: First, all religions believe in some form of repentance and the need to worship God. Repentance and worship will provide the religious framework for a global effort to appease God. After seeing the sudden destruction of more than 1.5 billion people, kings, prime ministers, presidents, and legislative bodies will not murmur. How can they? Desperate circumstances can make desperate solutions appear very reasonable. (Do not forget, after the World Trade Center disaster, the Patriot Act of 2001 only took 45 days to create and implement.) Second, the religious leaders of the world will attempt to resolve a very thorny problem, but their efforts will only produce confusion. This one world of human beings consists of seven antagonistic religious systems. The diversity of humanity means that repentance and worship in Islamic countries cannot be identical with repentance and worship in Catholic countries. Therefore, the "crisis authority" will have seven religious leaders (the seven heads) who rule over their subjects. The mandates emanating from the "crisis authority" will be adapted to each nation. For example, Moslems will be directed in ways that are different than Catholics. (Mixed messages coming from the crisis authority explains why this beast is called "Babylon," or confusion, in Revelation.) Third, the political leaders of the world will be forced to admit that God can be appeased only if the "rights of the individual" are subjugated to the "survival of the whole nation." In other words, if God remains offended by the sinful behavior of a minority (which brought on His wrath in the first place), the majority will continue to suffer more of God�s wrath. Therefore, every nation must obey the mandates of the "crisis authority." You may be surprised to learn this development will not be difficult to achieve. Here is why:

When the first four trumpet-judgments occur, martial law will be implemented in all nations. Overwhelming destruction and a disruption of national infrastructures will necessitate most current constitutional rights which many nations grant to their citizens be suspended. To maintain some semblance of order and to keep gangs from preying upon the elderly and the weak, civil authorities will be granted enormous power (deadly force) with very little legal restraint. Because of the devastation, martial law will already be in place (and constitutional rights suspended) when the summit occurs. The "crisis authority" will be able to direct, without impedance, the governments of all nations on matters of repentance and worship because constitutional provisions will have been suspended due to the extreme state of emergency.

I believe the pope will be elected to serve as head of the "crisis authority." "One of the [seven] heads of the beast [the crisis government] seemed to have had a fatal wound [1798], but the fatal wound had been healed. . . ." (Revelation 13:3) The pope will be elected to lead the crisis government because his church is the only church having diplomatic ties with most nations. The pope will neither usurp the powers of governments nor will he dictate how every nation must repent and worship. (Remember, there are seven heads.) Rather, he will lead the world in an ecumenical way toward repentance and worship. His Moslem, Protestant and Jewish counterparts will follow his lead. In this setting, the various religions of the world will tell their respective nations how to govern. Out of fear, "sin-less" laws will be implemented in every land and civil authorities will punish every person who disobeys. The government within each nation will retain its civil power, but the governments of the world will be obligated to carry out the reforms mandated by the "crisis authority" or God�s wrath may fall again.

Remember, the clergy will not have to prove that God is angry with the degenerate behavior of Earth�s population. Every nation will have sufficient death and ruined infrastructures as evidence. With twenty-five percent of the human race dead, and thirty-three percent of the world destroyed, political leaders will conclude that "the appeasement of God" must be their highest priority. Thus, Revelation predicts the kings of Earth will "follow" a religiously controlled "crisis authority" and politicians will be forced by circumstances (like Pilate) to carry out the wishes of religious leaders within their respective nations. This explains how the global church-state, the first beast of Revelation 13, which is also called Babylon because of its confusion, will rise. (Revelation 13:1)

As far as I can tell, this beast will rule over the nations of Earth for 1,260 days. (Revelation 13:5) However, at the end of 890 days, Lucifer will physically appear and after dissolving the religions of the world into "a one-world religion," he will set himself up as lord of lords, and king of kings. The devil will masquerade as Almighty God and reign over Earth for a period of about 445 days. In the next Wake Up Report, I will try to explain why the second angel�s message in Revelation 14 will be so hard to accept.